G.D. Spradlin 1920-2011

G.D. Spradlin, the Oklahoma-born character actor who contributed mightily to some of the best scenes of some of the best cinema ever, passed away Tuesday.

A millionaire oilman, rancher, attorney and World War II vet, he directed John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign in Oklahoma and didn’t enter the acting field until his mid-forties, when he was cast by “Godfather” producer Fred Roos in TV's “I Spy” and “Gomer Pyle.”

He’s likely best known for the role of the racist, corrupt U.S. senator Pat Geary, who in "The Godfather Part II" didn’t much care for Italians, with their greasy hair and silk suits, invading his pristine Nevada.

This led to a big role as a U.S. senator in “Rich Man, Poor Man Book II.” He'd go on to play many government officials.

He was the man in charge as Harrison Ford was giving Martin Sheen his marching orders in “Apocalypse Now.”

Here he is as commandant of the Carolina Military Academy in 1983’s “Lords of Discipline.”

On TV he played two real U.S. presidents: Andrew Jackson in 1986's “Houston: The Legend of Texas” and Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1985's “Robert Kennedy and His Times.”

He played a U.S. president again in Renny Harlin's "The Long Kiss Goodnight."

More recently he played Reverand Lemon in Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood."

He was also Patient Zero in NBC’s 1996 UFO drama “Dark Skies”:

Spradlin’s final role was that of Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, bossing around Will Ferrell’s Bob Woodward in the 1999 Watergate comedy “Dick.”

I love the way Mr. Spradlin delivered that line in Ed Wood. Or was it, "He's going to play the part of the young hero." Either way, it was great. Also loved him as the fascist college basketball coach in One on One. Good actor and a cool, memorable voice.

AICN is awesome, I mean you folks do a really good job at keeping up with everything out there in the world of film, you could do without CAPONE, but hey even retards were allowed to hang out with JESUS. I just don’t know what to say I mean I’m just in awe of everything you do. If I was a hot female I would literally suck all of your small cocks. Or if you are all gay, I know one of you are I would at least give you a hand job. The one thing I really want you folks to do is get more info on THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, get all commando with that shit and get onto the lot or location they are shooting and post those naked BALE pictures, dam he is so hot. Well I can at least say I hate twilight, does that do anything for anyone who hates this talkback. Also hate Michael Bay as well, so please I hope I’m on your good side when all my crazy gay fans read this. I should stay on the topic of film though since this is actually a website about films, I sometimes forgot what I was talking about, you know, just forget, like that movie memento. The other day I was walking down the street and I saw black dude with a sack of weed, I bought it and went home to smoke, but it turned out to be grass, actual grass. What the fuck was that guys problem, or what was wrong with my eyesight to be exact. I just saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows part 2 last week, it was good up until the end. I thought they were all going to start fucking and making out with Dumbledore. You know like Harry starts sucking off Dumbledore’s cock cause he’s gay, and then Ron shows up to fuck Harry in the ass, that way Dumbledore and Ron have a Potter sandwich! Though that’s not how it ended, it ended with a creepy 19 years epilogue. I mean for real, I think all of you would have preferred that ending. I was forced to go see two Justin Timberlake movies last month, Bad Teacher and Friends With Benefits! I really think he needs to stop acting just because he was only good in the social network and that was because he was playing a faggot! I also heard Lady GAGA has a vagina, I would love to play pen the penis with her someday. You know some people say JEWS run Hollywood, I think they got that confused with Israeli. The only thing I see in California is a bad time and AIDS! So it surely cant be them. Did you know my favorite movie was Sin City, I say was because Robert Rodriguez hasn’t made a decent movie sense. I used to listen to U2 until I found out BONO was protestant. FUCK the English I say! The only good thing to come from there was The Sex Pistols! I think I figured out why Amy Wine-house died last week, she woke up and realized she was English! I love my jibber jabber! I also tuck my dick in-between my legs while I look into the mirror while THE SMITHS play! They say NETFLIX is going to take over home rentals, I say bullshit, not until they at least carry porn. You know they say JESUS saves, I say he turns you GAY! This is what happens when you run out of drugs, you get on here and ramble! Anyone like OUTKAST, they need to put out another album before this decade ends! Yesterday I was on the toilet and was shitting blood, I then got a cup and drank the blood from the toilet. I said yum so I made my sister put her period in a cup, then I put a few cubes of ice in it and went AHH! I then became a VAMPIRE and asked TIM BURTON if I could be in DARK SHADOWS, he said NO! Yet that was because I could actually act he told me, made me fill a little bit better! You know they say Stanley Kubrick was a genius but my dad called him a pervert! How do you take 20 years to make a soft core porn film? AT LAST WE WILL REVEAL OURSELFS TO THE AICN TALKBACK, AT LAST WE WILL HAVE REVENGE!

I’m just trying to have a good time here, these talk-backs are supposed to make you laugh people. Don’t take things so serious as someone on this talk-back used to say. I cant help I have a large thought and then it just piles over onto the talk-back. Sometimes my thoughts will be small and ill say a word or two. Just so you know its all in fun but never mind that for now lets get back to talking about film. I think MUNICH is SPEILBERGS best film but my dad favors ALWAYS. You know I can stick my entire hand up my ass cause I was gang-raped last year, no joke there, it hurt! Those fuckers never got caught cause I was afraid to tell anyone, then I turned gay so I guess it didn’t matter. If I had to pick between buying LOTR on blu-ray or STAR WARS, I would for sure go for the light saber y’all! For all of those who didn’t like the prequels, you are stupid as fuck. LUCAS has controlled of your life, he made sure you would always work a dead end job and be stuck! He made sure EWEN MCGREGOR would never be a leading man again after he talked smack about THE PHANTOM MENACE! Just let that be a warning to all you cum gobblers out there! Any whore, I thought THE MATRIX was great, didn’t really like RELOADED but thought the last one was ok. Anyone who likes AVATAR must realize that THE SMURFS movie will be better. I cant stand people that do reviews in BLOGS, and I think ever since EBERT lost his jaw he has lost his mind! You know he gave THOR ½ stars or something like that, and he talked shit about that JACKASS dude that died, I hope his cancer kills him slowly! Peter Travers is usually on point, except for the reviews for the STAR WARS PREQUELS, so as a matter of fact I hope he dies of AIDS! HARRY is usually good as well but he said he feel asleep during INCEPTION, so I curse him with the IRISH curse! I tend to hate remakes and the remake of OLDBOY they are making with SPIKE LEE just makes my brain pop, I mean well have DENZEL WASHINGTON going around beating up the KKK and saying “GODZILLA AINT GOT SHIT ON ME!” I hope they both die before this actually happens and the people who produce it. Do you think it is a little much to use the words dead for people that make movies, your probably right for sure, but it’s about the same as sports fans reactions, and I don’t watch sports, I got man boobies, so I really wouldn’t know actually. Is it just me or does Peter Jackson get more credit for LOTR more so than the author, a paradox this is! Why can’t AICN have a music section for hip-hop, rock n roll, and death metal, that would be heaven and I forgot I’m living in hell as a wise RASTA once said. Why do you think black guys have big dicks and most white dudes don’t pass six inches, I think it might have been a curse from the GODS above, whatever we did I sure am sorry about it. Is it just me or is SEAN PENN wound up just a little to tight with politics, doesn’t he realize that type of behavior only works at the OSCARS. Time is funny as life goes on cause you realize how ugly you are now and how hot you were when you actually thought you were ugly when in all reality you weren’t, so you junior high kids, enjoy it while it last. Do you all consider this to be anarchy or just me being a douche bag, id rather be a douche bag than be a fan of TWILIGHT! By the way, has there ever even been a good review on this website for a TWILIGHT movie? Please let me know before hell freezes over. Why is TOM HANKS so nice, I mean I heard he is so nice that you cant really ever say anything bad about him, you would be considered a real jackass or jerk if you did. I’m trying to figure out one bad thing to say and its hard to do but here it is, LARRY CROWN & THE DA VINCI CODE! Does anyone know when that LEO kid from TITANIC will win an OSCAR, I mean he was in THE DEPARTED and still couldn’t win! Have you ever seen a woman fuck a turtle, its kind of gross, but I’m sure there babies will be pretty. Well I think I’m starting to run out of ideas here, I have been going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and goinggoing and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going ! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU WE WONT STOP!

This was the guy to call. The last time I saw him was Riders of the Purple Sage with Mr. and Mrs. Ed Harris. Yeah, it was made for tv, but that didn't matter. It was a great movie. He played the corrupt preacher.

It is interesting. I was checking out his filmography on IMDB and was surprised how few films he was actually in. He was so strong, with such an amazing screen presence, that I assumed he had been in more movies that he actually was. Make no mistake, his performance in GFII was one of the truly great supporting performances in film history. The way he said, "Cor-le-one". Ditto for his role in Apocalypse Now. That scene has always stood out for me, the way he passed the food around, his comment that eating the shrimp? was the only test of courage Sheen would ever have to pass. The world weary way he got around to the point where he explained what wanted done. Just stunning.

Thank you homer40 for giving props to Spradlin in the intel compound lunch scene in AN. That scene is one of my favorites in the entire film and the source for some of its most memorable dialogue. One of my friends always throws out the phrases "fit and ready for duty" and "a man of wit and humor" from Spradlin's lines in that scene.